#mardil

[edennill-archived]

Since the first of the Ruling Stewards begun to govern, we are told, because there were no witnesses to the king's presumed death... did it often happen in Gondor that captives of the enemy would reappear after years?

That said, there is no need for any examples that do not appear in the books to have existed -- Hurin Thalion would be precedent enough to hope Eärnur was dead and keep on waiting just in case -- especially if you're trying to avoid another war over succession.

[anghraine]

Mardil for the meme

Ooh.

1-3 things I enjoy about them:

- He was prime minister for a rash, hotheaded king, and still tried to keep him from throwing his life away. 

- Mardil was the legal regent of Gondor after the departure of the king, and then after his disappearance. It was the perfect opportunity to seize power as the king. Instead, he simply continued to exercise the power he had, ensuring stable leadership and internal peace. Mardil Voronwë, indeed.

- He was so committed to distinguishing himself from a Real King that, although his family traditionally used Quenya names (Mardil, Vorondil, Pelendur), he switched to Sindarin ones for his children to avoid the tiniest appearance of royal pretensions. WHAT A GUY.

Something interesting about them based on tenuous circumstantial evidence

Mardil’s name means something along the lines of ‘friend of the royal house.’ (Tolkien clarified that mar-, house, referred to the royal house of Gondor.) His non-coup presumably is what earned him the epithet of Voronwë. That said, while he had the right to consider any claims to the throne, this is zero indication that he ever gave a second consideration to his grandfather’s ruling against the heirs of Isildur. Presumably, he also thought it was nonsense. And while Pelendur can be read as self-interested or w/e, it’s really hard to see Mardil that way. I think he, like many other Dúnedain of the time, simply didn’t find the Isildurioni’s claims at all convincing.

A question I have about them

I seriously wonder what he thought about Eärnur. I also wonder if Mardil was his birth name; it effectively means ‘friend of the royal house,’ which is a bit on the nose. It’s possible that it was one of those foresighted names, of course, or simply a reference to his future as Steward, but it’d be interesting if he deliberately took the name.

A random relevant line I like

:(

My preferred version etc

Only one!

Favourite relationship

Mardil and Eärnur, by dint of being the only one we know anything about. I kind of wonder about Mardil and Pelendur, though!

How would they react to Tom Bombadil

I imagine he’d be mildly intrigued, but not consider him particularly relevant to his own duties.

[anghraine]

The phrase "Earnur did not deserve Mardil" brings to mind the image of Mardil walking angrily out of the Citadel with his bags while Earnur begs him to stay.

Regrettably, it was the exact other way around! Mardil was clearly the Jeeves of Gondor.

[thenamegarden]

Mardil

Gender: Male

Pronunciation: MARD-il

Origin: Literature

Meaning: Devoted to the house of the kings

Ranking in the US top 1000: Not ranked